Not applicable.
Not applicable.
The present invention relates to fluid control valves, and in particular to valve assemblies designed for use in what may be out of plumb mounting locations.
Tub/shower fluid control valves are typically mounted through a wall surrounding a tub or a shower stall. The wall may be part of a unitary enclosure, or it may be a room wall such as a tiled wall forming part of a shower enclosure.
Such control valves are typically anchored to rear studs and/or adjacent wall board, and then linked to hot and cold water supply lines behind the wall. These valves usually have a valve stem that projects outward from a wall opening, and a handle is attached to the outer end of the stem to provide control over the valve from the room side of the wall.
Many of these valves are mixer valves which accept both hot and cold water, control the proportioning and volume of water there through, and deliver a mixed outlet stream to a tub filler, shower head and/or the like when the valve is turned on. See e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 5,467,799. Other such valves merely control the volume of a single supply of cold or hot water.
In any event, such valves are preferably mounted in a manner where a valve stem protrudes at a 90 degree angle from the wall. This facilitates the alignment of a decorative escutcheon that abuts against the walls outside to hide the wall opening as well as prevent air leakage through the wall opening.
Occasionally in new installations, and much more often in connection with remodeling projects, the walls of the enclosure are not perfectly plumb (vertical). Alternatively, even where they are plumb, the control valve may have been installed so that the valve stem does not extend through the wall exactly horizontally. In either case, this will cause the angle between the valve stem and the wall to be more or less than 90 degrees, which presents a problem for mounting the escutcheon.
For example, if the escutcheon is secured tightly on the valve perpendicular to the valve stem, its back/inner side will not be flush against the wall. Instead, there will be a gap between the wall and the escutcheon. This gap may be unsightly, and in any event will leave an opening through which cold drafts can enter the bathroom and room moisture can leak from the room behind the room walls (possibly leading to mildew that is difficult to remove).
In the past, one approach for dealing with this problem, when the degree off plumb was small, was to slightly bend the escutcheon or gouge out the wall slightly where the escutcheon hit first. For some room materials (e.g. tile) this was difficult. Further, this in any event required additional time and effort and occasionally led to a somewhat unprofessional appearance.
U.S. Pat. No. 572,911 disclosed a fluid control valve that had a pipe section formed with an annular shoulder or bulge defining a curved surface of increased diameter than the pipe section that fit into a curved pocket in an escutcheon. The escutcheon could swivel or pivot around the shoulder to be at a non-perpendicular angle relative to the pipe.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,163,457 disclosed a somewhat similar assembly albeit here the bulge or shoulder was on an annular member (separate from the spigot pipe) and the escutcheon did not appear to have a concave pocket.
The assemblies disclosed in both of these patents left the shoulder and mating surface of the escutcheon visible from inside the room. Also, when the escutcheon was at a non-perpendicular angle on the spigot it overlapped portions of the shoulder differently, making it somewhat evident that the escutcheon was not plumb.
Thus, a need still exists for an improved valve assembly in which the escutcheon can be mounted in a decorative manner, yet flush, against a mounting wall in out of plumb situations.
The invention provides a fluid valve assembly. There is a valve housing from which extends a movable (preferably rotatable or slidable) valve stem for controlling fluid flow through the fluid valve. There is also an escutcheon mountable around the housing or stem, the escutcheon having an opening between an inner face and an outer face, the escutcheon also having an outer facing socket around the opening where the socket has an outer facing curved surface.
In accordance with the invention a swivelable bearing is disposed about the housing or stem, the bearing having a curved surface abutting the curved surface of the outer facing socket. A skirt is mounted around the stem and has an outer end with an opening therein and an inner end which abuts an outer face of the bearing. There is also a handle linked to the valve stem through the skirt opening.
If the assembly is mounted such that the stem does not extend at an exactly 90 degree angle relative to a room wall adjacent thereto, the escutcheon can swivel relative to the bearing as the assembly is installed against the room wall. This permits the escutcheon to lie flat against the room wall, thereby eliminating any gaps between the rear of the escutcheon and the wall.
In preferred embodiments the bearing is prevented from rotation around a longitudinal axis of the stem by the valve housing having a recess in which is disposed a radial projection of the bearing to restrict relative rotation there between. Also, the escutcheon is prevented from rotating along that longitudinal axis of the stem relative to the bearing by the bearing having a recess in which is disposed a radial tab of the escutcheon. It should be appreciated that the positions of the recesses and projections can be reversed to achieve a similar result and that the swivel bearing and the escutcheon could be made without the projections and tab so that they are able to turn.
In another preferred form the skirt threads onto the valve housing. Thus, the rotation of the skirt drives the skirt inner end against the bearing.
Thus, the present invention provides an assembly which includes a swivel joint for pivotally mounting an escutcheon to the valve body so that it can mount flush against the mounting wall when the wall or the valve is out of plumb. Of course, the bearing need not be restricted against rotation relative to the escutcheon. In such a case swiveling would mean any tilting motion between the bearing and escutcheon.
The assembly thus offers a quick and easy way to achieve a clean, professional look when installing fluid valves. This eliminates gaps or spaces between the escutcheon and the wall (without the need for bending the escutcheon, gouging the wall or inserting fillers). The concept would also work on control valves mounted on horizontal support surfaces (e.g. on a tub mounting rim). In such a case the term xe2x80x9couterxe2x80x9d would mean xe2x80x9cupperxe2x80x9d, and the term xe2x80x9cinnerxe2x80x9d would mean xe2x80x9clowerxe2x80x9d.
Moreover, even where the construction is perfectly plumb the assembly can be used. Another advantage is that the swivel joint is largely concealed when the assembly is fully assembled, so that there is little or no visual indication that the installation is out of plumb.
These and still other advantages of the invention will be apparent from the detailed description and drawings. While a particular preferred embodiment has been disclosed hereafter, it should be recognized that the invention is not so limited. Rather, the claims should be looked to in order to judge the full scope of the invention.